


Work of Art

by overcomera



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Canon Universe, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:27:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24933733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overcomera/pseuds/overcomera
Summary: Aron had been in love with Minki for a while, but he swallowed his feelings out of fear, pride, and denial. But he was in for a surprise the day he helped Minki run lines for his musical.
Relationships: Aaron Kwak | Aron/Choi Minki | Ren
Comments: 12
Kudos: 27





	Work of Art

Minki was a work of art; Aron truly and sincerely believed that. All of God’s creations were works of art of course, but Minki was just a little more beautiful. He was not just beautiful looks-wise, but everything-wise. Minki had a beautiful face, a beautiful heart, and a beautiful personality.

Aron wasn’t sure exactly when he began to realize that his feelings for Minki were unusual. He loved the maknae, but not the same way he loved all his other members. He liked being with Minki, seeing Minki, laughing with Minki, touching Minki. Everything Minki made him feel so happy and alive.

_Was it romantic love?_

It was hard to tell, but Aron liked to think that it wasn’t. He liked to think he was going to end up with a normal family, with a _wife_ and kids. Liking Minki in that way would totally complicate that narrative and disrupt his long-term plans, so Aron decided to ignore those feelings and consider them a form of deep affection for the maknae, nothing else.

And even if he _did_ like Minki, Aron thought, he could never tell him. That would change the dynamics of their relationship forever, and the thought of that scared Aron.

And so he refused to look deep within and ask himself what he really wanted from Minki. When affectionate thoughts of the maknae came to mind, he would cloud them with humor, and pester Minki until to the point of comical anger, so that Aron could laugh the feelings away. It worked… most of the time.

Sometimes, however, all it did was make Aron want him more.

-

These days, Minki was very busy preparing for his musical, which meant that Aron could not see him as much. Minki was spending so much time with the rest of the cast, even going as far as staying nights at the studio and in his colleagues’ homes.

A part of him was jealous that Minki was making so many good friends, friends he could spend entire nights with. That was supposed to be him.

 _Whatever,_ he told himself. _Soon, it will all go back to normal, and Minki will be all mine again._

He really missed him, and secretly couldn’t wait until that stupid musical was over so that things could go back to normal – normal being Minki showing up at his doorstep at midnight needing someone to drink and talk with.

So when Minki did show at his doorstep one night in the middle of his rehearsal period, Aron was as confused as he was overjoyed.

“Rennie, what are you doing here?” Aron asked when he his member outside, script in hand and an anxious look on his face.

“Hyung, I really need your help,” Minki said, pushing past him into his home. Noah and Kkotsuni rushed to greet him.

“What’s up, cutie?” Aron asked him. Minki looked nervous and jittery. He wasn’t even acknowledging his energetic pets frolicking to get his attention, which made them both whimper and walk away.

Ren collapsed onto Aron’s sofa and groaned, hugging the battered script to his chest.

“Are you gonna tell me what’s wrong, or do you expect me to figure it out?” Aron asked, taking a seat beside him. He put his elbows against the backrest and leaned his head against his hand, taking in the sight of Minki’s beautiful face. He liked that he could just stare at Minki, and Minki would think nothing of it. For Minki, staring at him like that was just Aron being Aron, teasing and playing with him. Little did Minki know that Aron stared at him because he actually liked to.

Minki put his script on his lap and turned to face Aron.

“Okay, so… you know how in Jamie, there’s this bully character, Dean? There’s a scene where I have to kiss him…”

“Oh?” Aron asked. He didn’t know there was a kissing scene in this musical. The thought of it made him feel just a little uncomfortable. Minki was already close enough to his dumb co-actors.

“Yeah, and tomorrow we’re practicing it, and I’m so afraid I’ll make a fool of myself!” Minki pouted. “I get so nervous around the actor that’s playing Dean. I always end up forgetting my lines and messing up around him. And with this kissing scene, I know I’m going to get nervous and embarrass myself in front of everyone.”

“Do you... _like_ him?” Aron asked, with a bit of smirk on his lips.

It was teasing question, so Aron didn’t expect Minki to answer: “As a matter of fact, yes I do.”

“Really?”

“Well, yeah. He’s attractive and nice and makes my heart flutter. And it’s my first ever kissing scene, and I don’t want him to mistake my nervousness for disgust or anything…”

“Aw, our Minki likes someone!” Aron continued to tease, even though he felt a bit empty on the inside with this new information.

Minki rolled his eyes, “yes, Aron. I like someone. I like a boy. Now tell me when you’re done teasing.”

“Okay, okay, I’m done. How can I help?” Aron asked. “Wanna practice kissing with me?” He winked playfully. A part of him hoped Minki would say yes.

“No,” Minki said, “I want you to just run the lines with me, so I can get the timing right. I promise I won’t kiss you, I’ll just get close and pretend.”

“Sure thing, cutie,” Aron agreed. “What do you need me to do?”

“Great, thank you! So basically, the scene goes like this: you’re walking out of the room, and Jamie calls you back in, and says his line, getting closer to you. You get angry at him after he calls you ugly, so you grab his collar, ready to fight. And then, he kisses you. You get surprised and pull back. Got it?”

“It’s a bit weird…”

“I promise I won’t kiss you!” Minki reaffirmed. “I just need to get the timing of it right.”

“Okay, but I’ll probably end up laughing!”

“Try not to, please,” Minki requested. “Otherwise, I’ll go practice with MJ or JR…”

“No, no, I’m ready. Let’s do this!”

Minki took him through the context and the blocking of this scene, and when Aron was ready, they began the first round of practice.

“ _Minger. Minger. Minger. Minger. Minger. Like that word could ever bring me down. Because I’m not a minger, Dean. And you might be fit, and you might be handsome, but you’re so…_ ” Minki got closer to him, until his face was just an inch away from his. Aron’s heart began to flutter, so he did what he always did best: turn it into a joke by bursting into laughter.

“Hyung!” Minki whined. “Come on! Be serious for once…”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Aron cleared his throat. “Let’s do this again. I’ll do better.”

“Okay,” Minki replied uncertainly. He cleared his throat and began performing his lines again.

“ _Minger. Minger. Minger. Minger. Minger. Like that word could ever bring me down…”_

Aron took a deep breath. He had to get himself together. He couldn’t let his heart race again.

 _“Because I’m not a minger, Dean. And you might be fit, and you might be handsome, but you’re so…_ ” Minki inched closer, and Aron held his breath. _“Ugly.”_

Aron was too focused on holding his breath, that he forgot his cue.

“Hyung!” Minki yelled.

“Shit. Sorry, sorry. I have to grab your collar, right? I’m sorry, this is just weird…”

“Look, JR doesn’t live far. I’ll just go to his…”

“No, no. I promise I’ll do it right this time! One last time.”

Minki sighed and they started again.

“ _Minger. Minger. Minger. Minger. Minger. Like that word could ever bring me down.”_

Aron looked away from Minki’s eyes. It helped him concentrate.

 _“Because I’m not a minger, Dean. And you might be fit, and you might be handsome, but you’re so…_ ” Minki drew his face closer again. “… _ugly.”_

On cue, Aron lunged forward and grabbed Minki’s collar, staring into his eyes. Minki just froze, so he was the one to mess up this time.

“Shit, I missed my time,” Minki mumbled, closing his eyes and pulling himself back from Aron’s grip. “You’re right, hyung. It’s weird to do this with you.”

Aron let out a brief, unnoticeable sigh of relief. If Minki had come any closer, Aron would have probably lost his mind and did something he regretted. He let go of Minki’s collar and adjusted it.

“You know, if it’s weird with me, it will probably be weird with your crush too.”

“No, no. It’s weirder with you.”

“But we’re close friends…”

“Which is exactly why it’s weirder!”

Aron cackled. “Why? Are you falling for me?”

“Get over yourself,” Minki scoffed.

“Let’s just try it one more time,” Aron said. “Get out of your head and pretend I’m that hunky cute actor, okay?”

“Okay,” Minki said and took a deep breath.

“ _Minger. Minger. Minger. Minger. Minger. Like that word could ever bring me down. Because I’m not a minger, Dean. And you might be fit, and you might be handsome, but you’re so…_ _ugly._ ”

Aron grabbed Minki’s collar, and immediately after, Minki kissed Aron’s lips.

Their lips touched only for a brief magical moment, which ended abruptly with Minki pulling back and cursing.

“Shit. I’m so sorry, hyung! I know I promised I wouldn’t actually kiss you but…”

Aron just shook his head, grabbed Minki’s collar, and kissed him again.

This time, the moment lasted longer than a second, but it was still not nearly as long as Aron would have liked, because Minki was frozen and confused.

When Aron pulled back to look into Minki’s wide, bewildered eyes, he instantly regretted it.

“That… that wasn’t in the script,” Minki managed to say.

Aron’s instinct was to laugh, point a teasing finger at Minki, and call it a prank. But he didn’t want to do that, because he knew if he did that, Minki would find someone else to practice with.

It was time to acknowledge where it came from, the place in his heart that Aron kept buried and shrouded with quips and humor. He had feelings for Minki, and it was time to admit it.

But when he tried to open his mouth, nothing came out. When it came down to it, Aron didn’t know how to express that part of his heart. All he’d ever known to do was ignore and dismiss it.

Minki frowned. “You know, hyung, it’s not nice to play with people’s feelings like that. How long are you going to keep this joke up? Come on. Go ahead and laugh at me. Get it out of your system…”

Aron still couldn’t gather the words to say what he needed.

“Screw you,” Minki mumbled, crossing his arms. “I’m not falling for your dumb tricks.”

“It’s not a trick, Minki,” Aron finally managed to say.

“Yeah right. If it’s not a trick, kiss me again and prove it.”

Aron took that as a challenge, one that he would happily carry out. He took Minki’s collar, and kissed him again. Minki put his arms around Aron’s shoulder and deepened the kiss, as if it were a part of the challenge, as if he wanted to panic Aron into admitting it was a prank.

But Aron did not panic. He accepted all of Minki’s advances and deepened the kiss when beckoned. Soon he was on the sofa, with Minki on his lap straddling him, and their lips never parting for more than a moment.

He was making out with Minki. His beautiful, sweet-tongued, gold-hearted work of art.

They only stopped to catch their breath.

“It’s not a trick?” Minki asked, staring into Aron’s doting eyes.

Aron lifted his hand to stroke Minki’s cheek. “Of course not.”

“Then what is this? Say it, hyung.”

“I… I love you, Minki,” Aron finally confessed.

Needless to say, they did not do any more practice for the musical that night.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn’t know how to wrap this up so I’m sorry if the ending is cheesy lol.
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you liked it! :)


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